Monday 19 January 2009

Portland - Part 2

After our sea watch, we strolled along the cliffs looking for Black Redstart or Rock Pipit. Well, we found one of those. This Rock Pipit decided to take a bath in a little puddle of what was probably salty sea water! Identification of Pipits can be tricky, but Rock Pipits are generally quite 'cold' brownish grey looking and the breast streaks are generally more blurry than with other Pipits (have a look in the book Evie). (-: The legs are meant to be dark but that isn't easy to see in the following photos.



We managed to find a Black Redstart later on in the day which will feature in the next Portland post.

8 comments:

Celeste said...

A beautiful series of pictures. Isn't it unusual for that species to be bathing in salt water?

Jenny said...

Hi Celeste, I would guess so and maybe it wasn't salty, I was just going by where that puddle was on the cliff, but it might have been fresh water, I didn't test it with my tongue! (-:

Anonymous said...

Great photos Jen.
Rather you than me, Pipits are a minefield. I definitely need to get the book out for those.

Jenny said...

Hi Roy, they're certainly a challenge.....

Eve said...

I was able to get an American Pipit here once Jenny...getting the book out as I type...well, not out...just up off the shelf in front of me! Oh by the way...we survived dinner last night! Ha Ha Ha!!!

Mary said...

Lovely and educational both! I can certainly see a relationship to our Robin in this bird...the eyes, the general look of it! I've been watching our Robin at the water recently and this just echos what I've been seeing!

Quiet Paths said...

I certainly envy you the time you spent near the sea. I just love those surf photos all foamy and so full of detail. It looked to be a beautiful day.

Jenny said...

Hi Evie, so glad you survived that dodgy steak! Yikes!

Hi Mary, yes they do seem to hold themselves in a similar way don't they.

Hi Christine, I love getting to the seaside, specially if there arn't loads of people about! (-: